File spoon-archives/habermas.archive/habermas_2001/habermas.0109, message 94


From: "Rafe Champion" <rchamp-AT-bigpond.net.au>
Subject: Re: HAB: Peace & Evolution
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 23:28:41 +1000


> >Fundamentalism is destined to become untenable, in my view, but I'm
> >not in support of great missionary campaigns to convince
> >fundamentalist Muslims of this. The social evolutionary conflict of
> >theocratic and modern aspects of life on this tiny planet is
> >inevitable.
>
> This is at the heart of my problem with Habermas. I gave a run at it when
I
> typed up my Hegelian critique of Habermas which received no comment from
> anyone on the list. If the critical theorist, or liberal democrat, assumes
> that the other, politically included or not, is immature / backward /
> whatever - then this in itself will *prevent and, likely, be a reigning
> cause of further reproach.

I would like to offer some comments on the prospects for  peace, evolution
and critical thinking. It may be that the best hope for peace and evolution
in the medium to long term derives from the critical  theory of William W
Bartley and his interpretation of  Karl Popper's critical rationalism.

The first premise is that fanaticism is the fundamental problem and the
greatest threat to  peace and evolution. Fanatics are "true believers" whose
beliefs are, for the moment, beyond the reach of critical appraisal.

The second premise is that true believers are generated by "true belief"
theories of knowledge. Practically all the epistemologies that we know
including the positivist  philosophies of science, are "true belief"
epistemologies.

The third premise is that Popper and Bartley offer an alternative to true
belief, namely "critical preference". If their theories of knowledge and
rationality are robust then they offer a truly radical break from "true
belief" and "justified true belief", and hence a hope of undermining the
roots of fanaticism in the long term. This perspective offers an explanation
of the coexistence of all manner of prejudice and superstition (in the west)
alongside the  rise of Science and Reason in recent centuries.

These views  are sketched in an essay at the following link
http://victorian.fortunecity.com/beardsley/700/cra.html

Rafe Champion
http://zap.to/rafechampion




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